Fish Oil and Heart Disease

Much research has been carried out on fish oil and heart disease. On
this page you'll find the answers to these important questions:

How fish and fish oil protect you from heart disease

How does fish oil "thin" the blood?

Ten ways fish oil fights heart disease

How much fish should you eat?

Which fish has the most omega-3 oils?

What about fish oil supplements?

How Fish and Fish Oils Protect You From Heart Disease

The benefits of fish and fish oil on human health have been well documented. It's their content of omega-3 fatty acids that is primarily responsible for many of their unique health benefits.

The best known condition prevented and treated with omega-3 fatty acids is
heart disease.

It's a fact that seafood eaters worldwide have less heart disease. Even
eating a tiny amount of fish can have a monumental effect on your
health.

A landmark Dutch study on fish oil and heart disease,
found that eating, on average, a mere ounce (or 25 g) of fish a day cut
the chances of fatal heart attack in half.

If you could look
inside people's arteries, you could see that the healthiest ones belong
to fish eaters and the most diseased ones to non-fish eaters. This is what some Danish researchers did in forty consecutive autopsies.

They measured the fish oil in the fat tissue, which revealed how much fatty fish the individual had eaten while alive.

Undeniably,
the smoothest, cleanest arteries belonged to those with more omega-3
fat in their tissue and the most seriously clogged arteries belonged to
those who had made the mistake of skimping on fatty fish.

If you have had a heart attack your best insurance against future
attacks is to go immediately on a high fish diet.

In fact, eating fish
boosts your odds of escaping subsequent heart attacks better than the
traditional route of cutting down on foods high in saturated fats.

How Does Fish Oil "Thin" the Blood?

Many studies on fish oil and heart disease have demonstrated that eating fatty fish literally changes the shape of blood platelets so
they can't lock together to form unwanted blood clots.

When you eat fish oil, your platelets release much less of
the substance called thromboxane that instructs platelets to stick
together.

Thromboxane creates sticky platelets by stimulating them
to swell up into little round balloons and then to grow spikes so that
they can interlock with other platelets.

In this state they are called "activated" or "sticky", ready and able to clump together to form blood clots.

So
fatty fish, by suppressing thromboxane, preserves the healthy normal
disc shape of platelets so they can't cling together and form clots to
plug up your arteries.

Ten Ways Fish Oil Fights Heart Disease

Blocks platelets aggregation (clotting)

Reduces blood vessel constriction

Increases blood flow

Lowers fibrinogen (clotting factor)

Revs up fibrinolytic (clot-dissolving) activity

Blocks cell damage from oxygen free radicals

Lowers triglycerides (blood fats)

Raises good HDL cholesterol

Makes cell membranes more flexible

Lowers blood pressure

How Much Fish Should You Eat?

Research shows that eating fish twice a week will provide distinct health benefits.

This
translates into approximately 10 to 12 ounces (or 275 to 350 grams) of
fish per week, which corresponds to 200 to 400 milligrams of omega-3
fatty acids per day.

But if you already have a heart condition or you've had a heart attack it seems that your best option is to double that amount or even treble it.

Which Fish Has the Most Omega-3 Oils?

The fattiest fish have the highest concentrations of omega-3 oils.

The best ones are:

mackerel

anchovies

herring

sardines

wild salmon

tuna

halibut

turbot

bluefish

trout

sablefish

Fish with moderate to low omega-3 fatty acids include:

catfish

cod

dolphin fish

flounder

grouper

haddock

perch

pike

red snapper

Shellfish generally have low levels of omega-3 fats. Having said that, that doesn't apply to Krill oil, as it is an excellent source of Omega-3 fatty acids. Read More

So it's important to choose the right type of fish to make sure you get a good amount of omega 3 oils.

For
example, 4 oz. (110g) of salmon contains up to 3,600 milligrams of
omega 3 fatty acids, while 4 oz. of cod contains only 300 milligrams.

What About Fish Oil Supplements?

What if you don't like fish? Or are concerned about contaminants in fish? You can certainly try fish oil supplements.

Be
careful when you read the label: if it says 1000mg fish oil capsules,
it doesn't mean there's actually 1000 mg of omega-3 fatty acids (EPA and
DHA) in them but it will specify the actual amount of each one of them.

Often it will contain 180mg of EPA and 120mg of DHA for one 1000 mg capsule.

Please Note:

If you are on blood thinning medications, consult your physician before taking fish oil supplements as they act in a very similar way. Anticoagulant and anti-platelet drugs are prescribed to prevent strokes and heart attacks and their effect can be increased by adding fish oil supplements.